Seventy-nine bishops from Latin and Eastern churches will convene to dialogue, discern and deliberate on the issues affecting the credibility and vitality of the Canadian Catholic community.
Cardinal Mario Grech, the Synod on Synodality's secretary-general, will deliver the keynote address virtually, just days before the resumption of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome from Oct. 2-27. The Maltese prelate is scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. EST on Sept. 23.
French Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, the Archbishop of Marseille and Pope Francis’ special envoy for the Archdiocese of Quebec’s 350th anniversary, and Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič, the apostolic nuncio to Canada, are other dignitaries speaking on day one.
Fr. Fabio Baggio, undersecretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Human Development, and Alessandra Santopadre of the Archdiocese of Montreal’s Office for Cultural and Ritual Communities will accompany the Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace in steering the pastoral animation discussion about the situation facing migrants and refugees. They will scrutinize the tribulations experienced by newcomers in Canada and also evaluate from a global perspective.
The Standing Committee for Responsible Ministry and the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Persons, chaired by Gatineau Archbishop Paul-André Durocher, will update the bishops on how they are faring at enacting the 69 recommendations in Protecting Minors from Sexual Abuse. The calls to action in this document developed six years ago contain advice to bishops on instituting credible and accountable reporting mechanisms, navigating their first encounter with victims and implementing safe recruiting procedures for volunteers and staff.
Other items on the agenda include a presentation from Development and Peace — Caritas Canada, a progress report about the Indigenous Reconciliation Fund and a discussion about Pope Francis’ Fiducia supplicans and Dignitas infinita doctrinal documents published this past December and April, respectively.
Fiducia supplicans (“Supplicating Trust”) is the declaration that authorizes Catholic priests to bless couples, including same-sex unions, not married according to Church teaching. Dignitas infinita (“Infinite Dignity”) spotlights the human rights, discrimination, abortion and gender theory violations of the Gospel at work in secular culture today.